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HONG KONG - It is with “mixed feelings” that Mr George Yeo looks back on his 23 years in politics and government.
Now a businessman based in Hong Kong, the 58-year-old ponders the question of whether he misses his former life.
“That part - where you're involved in policy formulation which affects Singaporeans - you don't have that as much in the private sector,” muses Mr Yeo, who was minister for information and the arts, health, trade and industry, before his final post as foreign minister - one of Singapore’s finest, many believed.
“When I look back on my various portfolios, there were opportunities to do good. I do view that with a certain nostalgia and gratitude.”
But politics? Not so much, admits Mr Yeo, who led the People’s Action Party slate in the hotly-contested Aljunied GRC.
“Politics is insistent in its claim on your time and in its demands on one's nervous energy.
“That part, I don't really miss. Because I have more freedom now, less of that constant pressure.”
An answer that many a politician may give - if they speak candidly. But the pressures of politics perhaps sit heavier on a man who has had to combat the popular notion that he is more at home among fellow intellects than amid the men on the street.
When I had asked him about this widespread perception in an interview in 2007, he responded earnestly: “I don’t think I live in an ivory tower. As Karl Marx said, the point is not to understand the world, it is to change it.”
Observers then had chuckled that he had quoted the German philosopher to defend his heartland credentials.
But certainly, no one can fault Mr Yeo for not trying.
Recognising the revolutionary nature of social media, he was Singapore’s first politician to use it to engage with netizens. Today, he continues to maintain an active Facebook page with nearly 90,000 fans, which he updates with pictures of his latest adventures - whether meeting world leaders or having a foot massage.
Five years from that first interview, we are both in Hong Kong, where Mr Yeo has set up a second home with his wife Jennifer. He is now based here as vice-chairman of Malaysian tycoon Robert Kuok’s Kerry Group conglomerate, with interests that span property, logistics and food industries.
No longer minister, Mr Yeo looked cheerful, relaxed, as he sipped milk tea in his office overlooking the Victoria Harbour.
It was his first interview with the Singapore media since the May 6 election last year - something he had demurred from as he had “switched personas”.
He was the ruling party’s most prominent casualty in a fight that pit the PAP team with the opposition’s “A” slate led by Workers Party’s secretary-general Low Thia Khiang.
Mr Yeo’s team lost with 45.3 per cent of votes. Across the island, the PAP was returned to power with its lowest share of votes since Independence.
In the final days of the campaign, the minister known for his progressive streak spoke of “considerable resentment against the Government and its policies”, and pledged to help the PAP transform.
Many were disappointed when he later announced that he was quitting politics, leaving his team and activists to fight the next battle on the ground.
Asked about this during the interview, Mr Yeo would only say - tersely: “I didn't resign. I was voted out.”
He declines to speak further on Singapore and on domestic politics, preferring to dwell on developments in the region, especially China - where he spent four months on sabbatical last year.
But he speaks fondly of his “lifelong ties” with his former grassroots leaders, and the “friendly” reception from residents at Bedok Reservoir in his former constituency when he heads down for jogs.
“They wave at me, ask how I am and so on. Some say, oh, so sad not to have you around.”
Mr Yeo also ruminated on a favourite topic - the changing relationship between leaders and followers around the world. With the rise of social media, “if a leader puts on airs and pretends, he loses credibility”.
“In the old days you're protected by ritual, by hypocrisy, sometimes by ignorance.
“Today it's no longer possible. If a picture is too perfect, you know it can't be real.”
In this context, political leaders – whether in Singapore, China or Hong Kong – are facing rising cynicism among younger citizens towards them and the political system, he observes.
There is thus an urgent need to build trust so that leaders can craft policies that strike a balance between individual needs and the collective good.
“If people feel that, in the end ‘I’m in your heart’, they’re less likely to question every decision you make because they know it is for their good and the collective good.
“But if I begin to suspect you that you’re in it for yourself, then I will be much more insistent upon my needs being met.”
Rather aptly, he was awarded an honourary doctorate in social sciences by the Hong Kong Polytechnic University last Saturday for - among contributions in diplomacy and culture - “making good use of social media to reach out to his audience, young and old alike”.
In accepting his award, Mr Yeo dedicated it to the young - “because they have to rebuild a world that is corroding”.
Now a businessman based in Hong Kong, the 58-year-old ponders the question of whether he misses his former life.
“That part - where you're involved in policy formulation which affects Singaporeans - you don't have that as much in the private sector,” muses Mr Yeo, who was minister for information and the arts, health, trade and industry, before his final post as foreign minister - one of Singapore’s finest, many believed.
“When I look back on my various portfolios, there were opportunities to do good. I do view that with a certain nostalgia and gratitude.”
But politics? Not so much, admits Mr Yeo, who led the People’s Action Party slate in the hotly-contested Aljunied GRC.
“Politics is insistent in its claim on your time and in its demands on one's nervous energy.
“That part, I don't really miss. Because I have more freedom now, less of that constant pressure.”
An answer that many a politician may give - if they speak candidly. But the pressures of politics perhaps sit heavier on a man who has had to combat the popular notion that he is more at home among fellow intellects than amid the men on the street.
When I had asked him about this widespread perception in an interview in 2007, he responded earnestly: “I don’t think I live in an ivory tower. As Karl Marx said, the point is not to understand the world, it is to change it.”
Observers then had chuckled that he had quoted the German philosopher to defend his heartland credentials.
But certainly, no one can fault Mr Yeo for not trying.
Recognising the revolutionary nature of social media, he was Singapore’s first politician to use it to engage with netizens. Today, he continues to maintain an active Facebook page with nearly 90,000 fans, which he updates with pictures of his latest adventures - whether meeting world leaders or having a foot massage.
Five years from that first interview, we are both in Hong Kong, where Mr Yeo has set up a second home with his wife Jennifer. He is now based here as vice-chairman of Malaysian tycoon Robert Kuok’s Kerry Group conglomerate, with interests that span property, logistics and food industries.
No longer minister, Mr Yeo looked cheerful, relaxed, as he sipped milk tea in his office overlooking the Victoria Harbour.
It was his first interview with the Singapore media since the May 6 election last year - something he had demurred from as he had “switched personas”.
He was the ruling party’s most prominent casualty in a fight that pit the PAP team with the opposition’s “A” slate led by Workers Party’s secretary-general Low Thia Khiang.
Mr Yeo’s team lost with 45.3 per cent of votes. Across the island, the PAP was returned to power with its lowest share of votes since Independence.
In the final days of the campaign, the minister known for his progressive streak spoke of “considerable resentment against the Government and its policies”, and pledged to help the PAP transform.
Many were disappointed when he later announced that he was quitting politics, leaving his team and activists to fight the next battle on the ground.
Asked about this during the interview, Mr Yeo would only say - tersely: “I didn't resign. I was voted out.”
He declines to speak further on Singapore and on domestic politics, preferring to dwell on developments in the region, especially China - where he spent four months on sabbatical last year.
But he speaks fondly of his “lifelong ties” with his former grassroots leaders, and the “friendly” reception from residents at Bedok Reservoir in his former constituency when he heads down for jogs.
“They wave at me, ask how I am and so on. Some say, oh, so sad not to have you around.”
Mr Yeo also ruminated on a favourite topic - the changing relationship between leaders and followers around the world. With the rise of social media, “if a leader puts on airs and pretends, he loses credibility”.
“In the old days you're protected by ritual, by hypocrisy, sometimes by ignorance.
“Today it's no longer possible. If a picture is too perfect, you know it can't be real.”
In this context, political leaders – whether in Singapore, China or Hong Kong – are facing rising cynicism among younger citizens towards them and the political system, he observes.
There is thus an urgent need to build trust so that leaders can craft policies that strike a balance between individual needs and the collective good.
“If people feel that, in the end ‘I’m in your heart’, they’re less likely to question every decision you make because they know it is for their good and the collective good.
“But if I begin to suspect you that you’re in it for yourself, then I will be much more insistent upon my needs being met.”
Rather aptly, he was awarded an honourary doctorate in social sciences by the Hong Kong Polytechnic University last Saturday for - among contributions in diplomacy and culture - “making good use of social media to reach out to his audience, young and old alike”.
In accepting his award, Mr Yeo dedicated it to the young - “because they have to rebuild a world that is corroding”.
